香箱座り

Japanese

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香箱座り

香箱座り (kōbako-zuwari): a cat sitting in a catloaf pose.

Kanji in this term
香	箱	座
こう Grade: 4	はこ > ばこ Grade: 3	すわ > ずわ Grade: 6
goon	kun'yomi	kun'yomi

Etymology

Compound of 香箱 (kōbako, “incense box”) +‎ 座り (suwari, “sitting”, the 連用形 (ren'yōkei, “continuative or stem form”) of verb 座る (suwaru, “to sit”)). The suwari changes to zuwari as an instance of rendaku (連濁).

Refers to the similarity in shape between an incense box, and a cat when sitting with its front and back paws tucked underneath and its tail wrapped closely along the side of its body.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): [ko̞ːba̠ko̞zɨβ̞a̠ɾʲi]

Noun

香(こう)箱(ばこ)座(ずわ)り • (kōbako-zuwari)

sitting in a catloaf pose

Related terms

香(こう)箱(ばこ)を作(つく)る (kōbako o tsukuru): “to make an incense box” → to sit down in a catloaf pose^[1]^[2]
香(こう)箱(ばこ)を組(く)む (kōbako o kumu): “to come together / fold one's limbs into an incense box shape” → to sit down in a catloaf pose^[3]

References

^ Shōgaku Tosho (1988) 国語大辞典（新装版） [Unabridged Dictionary of Japanese (Revised Edition)] (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Shogakukan, →ISBN
^ Matsumura, Akira, editor (2006), 大辞林 [Daijirin] (in Japanese), Third edition, Tokyo: Sanseidō, →ISBN
^ 『もっと知りたい!ねこの気持ち』 (Motto Shiritai! Neko no Kimochi, in Japanese), PHP Institute, pp. 34-35

[KDJ-1] Shōgaku Tosho (1988) 国語大辞典（新装版） [Unabridged Dictionary of Japanese (Revised Edition)] (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Shogakukan, →ISBN

[DJR-2] Matsumura, Akira, editor (2006), 大辞林 [Daijirin] (in Japanese), Third edition, Tokyo: Sanseidō, →ISBN

[3] 『もっと知りたい!ねこの気持ち』 (Motto Shiritai! Neko no Kimochi, in Japanese), PHP Institute, pp. 34-35

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